1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates in general to the field of information handling systems. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a rack assembly for supporting information handling systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Information handling systems are often stored in a rack system to conserve floor space. A variety of different information handling system components including servers, computers, storage devices such as disk drives, tape drives, and RAID drives, as well as other electrical devices can be housed in rack systems.
Standards such as the Electronics Industry Association (EIA) RS-310 19″ rack standard have been developed to standardize the height and width of electronic rack systems to facilitate effective use of the space within rack systems. The vertical space within a rack system is generally defined in vertical mounting unit increments, often referred to as “U's.” A mounting unit or U is typically 1.75 inches. Interior rails of rack systems often have three mounting slots selectively spaced within each U of vertical space for attaching components. Rack systems and components are typically sized in mounting unit increments. For example, “2U” components are sized to fit within a 2U vertical space; “48U” and “72U” racks are sized to have 48U and 72U, respectively, of usable vertical space.
Access to components is often provided by a slideable shelf, slideable arms, or other support structures attached to interior rails of the rack system. These structures allow the associated components to slide forward for maintenance, repair, or installation.
Electronic rack systems employ a number of different mounting interface configurations for securing shelf rail arms and other support structures in the rack. For example, Dell Computer offers RAPIDRAIL™ system components for installation in square-holed rack systems and VERSARAIL™ system components for installation in round-holed rack systems. Manufacturers typically stock separate component kits for the different mounting components, thereby incurring inventory costs and high missing, wrong and damaged (MWD) metrics due to the customer inadvertently ordering the wrong type of components or the factory sending the wrong components. In view of the foregoing, it is apparent that there is a need for rack system components that provide multiple types of mounting interfaces and can be quickly converted from one mounting interface to another mounting interface. Furthermore, there is a need for rack system components that can be converted from one mounting interface to another without the use of tools.